Never Again
by CreepyStalkerFangirl
Summary: Set in a futuristic victorian age; Everypony has their hardships. Rarity cant get used to Sweetie, AppleJack works too hard without enough pay. Twilight is weighed down by her responsibilities, Pinkie is too serious. Rainbowdash has a slim chance of becoming a wonderbolt, Fluttershy lost her forest friends. Even the crusaders can feel it. T; some character death
1. Day by Day

**Okay I stumbled upon a bunch of amazing steampunk ponies, most of them were wonderlandfreak's, but a few are nastylady's, on deviantart and got an idea for a new fanfic! Here it is!**

"Rarity!" Applejack called, galloping toward Rarity in the rain.

"Hello, AppleJack!" Rarity greeted, a forced smile plastered on her face.

"It certainly has been awhile, we haven't talked since, you know…" AppleJack trailed.

"Yes, yes. By the way, how have your legs been?"

AppleJack grimaced, shuffling her mechanical back feet. "Fine, I guess. Just had to get used to 'em, you know?" AppleJack replied. "Here, I was saving these for later, but I'll give one to ya." She added, holding out her hat with five or so bruised, muddy apples.

"Th-thank you, AppleJack." Rarity, plastered the smile on her face again, using her magic to lift one of the apples. It didn't look very appetizing, but even Rarity took the first chance at food she got. These were hard times for everypony, and even the charmed ones, such as Rarity, were hungry. "I'll uh, save it for later."

"Rarity, how's Sweetie?" AppleJack asked hesitantly.

Rarity didn't try to keep the false smile on her face. "Fine, I suppose." She muttered, "Just not the same."

"We were all influenced by that day, we're all lucky we're still here." AppleJack commented, "Especially Sweetie. She may look different, but she still thinks, talks, _sings, _the same."

"But AppleJack, she had so much to look forward to!" Rarity wailed.

"And she still does. Like I said, she's the same. Appearances don't matter." AppleJack soothed. "We're lucky to have Twilight, the highest level unicorn in Equestria. She's only one level lower than the alicorns. She saved Sweetie and Pinkie."

_Oh, Pinkie. _Rarity thought miserably. "We are lucky, aren't we? Lucky that Twilight is so intelligent and we found enough of those two to save them."

"Exactly. Don't fret about it none, and go home. You're sister needs you, sugarcube."

_Right, my sister Sweetiebot. _Rarity nodded tersely and trotted away. She wanted to get the image of her Friend Applejack, muddy and dirty, out of her head. The farmers, including the Apple family, hadn't been faring well especially. AppleJack's mane, tail, clothes, coat, everything, had had mud somewhere. She didn't want to think about what Big Mac, AppleBloom, and Granny Smith looked like.

* * *

AppleJack stared at her friend's retreating back. Rarity wore a fine dress made of silk colored a deep red and a headdress made of roses and feathers. She had a good life, but it was still hard for her. Nopony had been spared but a few fillies. Even Rarity had the metal plate on her chest, which she tried so desperately to hide but failed.

AppleJack turned to go home. After all, she had a sister that needed her as well. She started on a steady trot home.

When AppleJack got home, AppleBloom galloped up to her, panic clear in her eyes.

"What is it, Sugarcube?" AppleJack asked.

AppleBloom breathed heavily, unevenly. She was upset. "It's-It's Granny Smith, AppleJack."

* * *

Rarity stepped through the door, soaked. Not that she cared anymore; a little rain was the least of her worries. "Sweetie," Rarity greeted.

Upon hearing her name, the pony's eyes lit up, literally. "Hello, sister! How was your outing?" She asked, green eyes illuminant.

"Fine." Rarity choked out. _I can't even talk to my own sister anymore, all because of them! Dear Celestia, where are you?_

* * *

Big Mac crouched by the bed, Granny Smith's deathbed, head hung low.

"So, she's gone." AppleJack said solemnly.

Big Mac nodded. "She was so old, had so much pain. She hated to see us all suffer, she just gave up."

"Oh, Granny." AppleJack breathed. There was nothing more to say. All three Apple's sat in silent mourning, unheard tears streaming down their face.

* * *

"None of this had to happen… none." Rarity muttered to herself, counting up the week's earnings.

"Rarity…" Sweetie piped up. She had heard, and Rarity knew it. "Don't you love me?"

"Of course I do, you're my sister." Rarity said without turning.

"But I'm… different now."

Rarity sighed. She needed to accept the truth; Sweetie Belle would never be the same again. She wasn't even Sweetie Belle anymore. She was Sweetiebot.

"Rarity, look at me and tell me you love me. Please, sister."

Sweetie would be crying, if robots could cry. Rarity turned to her metallic sister, her dear, tortured sister. "I love you, Sweetie. You may look different, but you still think, speak, _sing_, the same_. _You're still Sweetie."

The white metal clanked, and Sweetie's eyes dimmed. "Oh dear," Rarity whispered. "Blew a fuse again." She loped over to help her sister, fixing the wire and her eyes lit again.

"Thanks, Rarity."

"Of course."


	2. The New Equestria

**For those of you who may be worried about me not posting for His butler, In love, don't worry. I haven't given up on it; I'm just taking a little break. But I have like seven chapters that need to be typed up from my fanfiction notebook. Anyway, let me quit my annoying rambling and let you read.**

Sweetie turned to say goodbye to her sister, who was smiling brightly to her. "Bye Rarity. See you tonight!"

"Have a good day at school, Sweetie. Tell AppleBloom and Scootaloo I said hello!"

"Will do!" Sweetie called behind her. She was so glad her sister was treating her as if she was the same again.

AppleBloom looked up from the ground when she heard the clop clopping of hooves come toward her. "Hi, Sweetie." AppleBloom greeted her friend. Scootaloo raced over on her old scooter. "Hi, Scootaloo."

"Are you okay, AppleBloom?" Sweetie asked, tilting her head to the side. There was a metallic clang as the plates of her neck banged together. "You've been staring at the ground for ten minutes."

"I'm alright. Granny Smith, yesterday she… she…" AppleBloom had to say no more, her friends immediately understood.

"I'm so sorry, AppleBloom." Sweetie said sadly. Scootaloo put a reassuring hoof on AppleBlooms shoulder.

"It'll be okay, A.B. I promise." Scootaloo had no snarky remarks today, AppleBloom was upset enough as it was.

"Children, inside!" A sharp voice called out.

The three crusaders filed their way inside, where Cheerilee was waiting. "Quiet down, children, we have much to cover today." She said, getting straight to the point.

Cheerilee had changed in these past months. She was no longer the fun, outgoing teacher she once was. She was now harsh and strict. Her mane was always put into a tight bun and she was clad in a black schoolteacher's dress. The fillies couldn't even address her as Cheerilee anymore if they didn't want a smack with her ruler. They called her Miss Lee now.

"Today we are talking about the founding of the new equestria." Miss Lee started. "Years ago, two princesses ruled by the name of Celestia and Luna. The day was going on as usual on May twenty-third when our new rulers came and took over Celestia and Luna. They are called Discord and Chrysalis. At one twenty-two on the dot, they came down to rule. They had both tried and failed before, but now they had combined their strength to take over the two who ruled day and night. Firs, they defeated the princesses. Then, to show everypony that they were the ones in charge, they caused a natural disaster in equestria. No town was spared, and almost everypony has lost part of them. A few fillies were not harmed, but the rest of us were not so lucky. Everyone in this class was spared." Miss Lee glanced over at Sweetie. "Well, almost everyone.

"Every colt and mare was harmed. May I name a few?" Numerous students raised their hooves, granting Miss Lee permission to talk about their family members. "AppleBloom, your sister lost both of her back legs, and your brother lost his front. Sweetie, Rarity was cut open on the chest. Scootaloo, your guardian lost both her wings. And there are, of course, the ones that had to be reassembled." Miss Lee glanced at Sweetie again, and Sweetie nodded.

"Sweetie is one of them. Only her brain was found, same as Pinkie Pie. Twilight Sparkle reassembled them using metal and wire, hooking them up to their brain and making them into robots." Miss Lee continued "Twilight saved us all by giving us false mechanical parts. AJ and Big mac have mechanical legs, Rarity has a metal plate on her chest, Rainbowdash has parts to reattach her wings to her back."

Diamond Tiara raised her hoof. "Miss Lee, who are some others? What about you?"

"There's a metal plate where my cutie marks used to be." Miss Lee replied swiftly.

Silver Spoon raised her hoof "But are there others?"

"Of course! There's Fluttershy, who has a mechanical eye. Twilight Sparkle has a mechanical back leg. Vinyl Scratch has a false horn, a work of genius Twilight invented, she can still use magic with it. Derpy, our mailmare, has a false wing."

"What about our new rulers?" Snips asked.

"Chrysalis had an accident during the disaster, and Discord forced Twilight to reassemble her the same way she did Sweetie and Pinkie. To shorten it, we call the disaster that happened on the twenty-third 'the Accident', though nopony likes to talk about it. We seldom do."

"Miss Lee," Scootaloo raised her hoof, "We were all there, why do you teach us about it?"

Miss Lee turned away. "It's required by Discord and Chrysalis to teach it in schools."

"What happened to Celestia and Luna?" Snails questioned.

"Celestia is held in the dungeon, Luna joined them to avoid that. She is now called Nightmare Moon. Class is dismissed. Go home."

The fillies filed out one by one. Schools got out earlier now so that the fillies could help their families with work. AppleBloom worked on the farm, so she was as dirty as her sister. Scootaloo helped RainbowDash make rainbows in the weather factory, but she was dirty, too, due to her rough daredevil nature. Sweetie worked at a rock farm with Pinkie, then returned home to Rarity around six. Selling dresses couldn't keep them going forever. Who could afford a dress in these times?


End file.
